The cave bear, a Pleistocene animal, lived in caves and became extinct about 20,000 years ago. Humans may have caused their extinction due to competition for caves. The cave bear was larger than the brown bear and mostly herbivorous. They suffered due to a lack of food and retreating forests. Scientists have recovered DNA from a cave bear tooth, raising the possibility of recreating the species using biotechnology.
The cave bear was a Pleistocene animal that evolved a couple of million years ago and became extinct at the end of the last ice age, about 20,000 years ago. Unlike the more familiar brown bear, which uses caves only for hibernation, cave bears spent much more time in caves, as evidenced by the fossil record of this species which is mostly found in caves. In a cave in Romania, Peştera Urşilor (Cave of Bears), 140 cave bear skeletons were found. This probably denotes several generations of the animal living in the same cave.
It is likely that humans are responsible for the cave bear’s extinction, due to competition for the warm shelter of caves. However, the cave bear would not have given up without a fight: the species was about 30% larger than the brown bear, weighing up to a short ton (1000 kg) and standing 3.5 m tall at the shoulder. The other difference in appearance was a steeper forehead than that of a brown bear.
Unlike its contemporary relative, the American short-faced bear Arctodus, the Eurasian cave bear was largely herbivorous, consuming herbs, grasses, berries, and honey from wild bees. Strictly speaking, the cave bear was an omnivore, except during the summer, when it lived on an exclusively plant-based diet.
Being heavily dependent on plant material for food, cave bears suffered throughout the Pleistocene, a period of freezing temperatures, glaciations and retreating forests. As the forests died out, they were replaced by broad, cold, grassy steppes that did not provide sufficient food. This, combined with human competition, led to the animal’s death.
In May 2005, scientists in California were able to recover DNA from the tooth of a cave bear that lived between 42,000 and 44,000 years ago. This DNA was sequenced and 21 cave bear genes were discovered. This is one of several examples of the successful recovery of genetic material from extinct species and raises the possibility that cave bears, along with other Pleistocene animals, could be recreated using biotechnology in the not too distant future.
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